- Today we're gonna be talking
about common combinations of benefits
that add up to 100% or TDIU.
My name is Zack Evans,
I am a VA disability benefits attorney with Woods and Woods,
a nationwide VA disability benefits firm.
First things first,
if you haven't watched our video,
how the VA combined ratings table works
for disability claims,
I encourage you to do that now
and then come back to this video.
I spent a lot of time in that video
breaking down the mathematics
of how the VA will combine your conditions
so you can understand how different numbers
will work together to give you your combined rating.
Unless you understand what components
comprise your combined rating
and exactly how that's calculated,
its tough to understand the rest of the content
in this video.
Once you've done that,
you should have an idea
of how steep the combined ratings climb gets
as you approach CR 100 or a 100% combined rating.
Its so difficult in fact,
that I rarely see it in my practice.
If you're familiar with TDIU payment scales,
you know that a TDIU finding pays at exactly the same, 100%.
Even so, here's an example of a combination of ratings
that will get you to a combined rating of 100.
Lets say you have a mental health condition at 70%
for social and occupational deficiencies in most areas,
and a headache rating at 50%,
with characteristic prostrating attacks,
productive of severe economic inadaptability.
Thirdly, would be your obstructive sleep apnea rating
for 50%, with a prescription for a CPAP device.
And then finally, degenerative disc disease at 40%,
with a full reflection of 30 degrees or less.
So we have four significant ratings;
70 for mental health, 50 for headaches,
50 for sleep apnea, and 40 for your back.
But remember your TDIU rules.
You don't have to have all of these severe ratings
to get to 100%.
You can have one rating at 60%,
or you can meet the 70/40 rule with a combined rating of 70%
and an underlying condition of at least 40.
If you have multiple ratings for separate ailments
that are all part of the same body system,
those ratings can be combined together
to meet your 70/40 rule.
They can also be combined to meet the single rating
for 60% requirement.
I have an example of this.
So lets say you have the 40% rating for your lumbar spine
for degenerative disc disease,
and then you have radiculopathy down both sides
of your legs.
Your left lower extremity at 20%,
right lower extremity at 20%.
If you add those ratings together
with your bilateral factor, your 20's combine to 40,
and then you combine that 40% with the lumbar spine.
And that comes to a 60% combined rating together.
Because the radiculopathy conditions are caused
by your degenerative disc disease in your lower spine,
its all one condition and all qualifies for the TDIU rating.
If this all sounds like a foreign language to you,
that's okay, because your attorney speaks that language.
Give me a call and speak to me.
I'd love to help you.
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